The End
by A. Windsor
Summary: "Despite the number of women in his life, Zeq had always had his dad to rely on for a little y-chromosome time." A final look in on Zeq!verse.


Title: The End

Author: A. Windsor

Pairing/Characters: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. My one year of law school could allow me to legalese this a little more, but it also tells me it's pretty useless. So please don't sue; it's not mine, I'm just playing!

Series: Zeq!verse. (yep, you read that correctly)

Summary: "Despite the number of women in his life, Zeq had always had his dad to rely on for a little y-chromosome time." A final look in on Zeq!verse.

Author's Note: After the last Zeq fic, this was sitting half finished on my computer. While this was unfinished, the whole series felt unfinished. I will never close the door completely on this 'verse, but for me, this is a very organic place to end it chronologically. On the rare chance there will be another zeq!verse fic, it will take place anywhere on the timeline before this. Thank you to all of those who have been so amazingly supportive of Zeq and his co-parents. He paved the way for me to accept this story line and helped me process a whole hell of a lot. As ever, beta'd by the wonderful, snarky, weirdy reindeer panda roughian.

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><p>Ezequiel Sloan Torres has two mothers, a stepmother, a beloved little half-sister, and an older half-sister he sees on occasion but who is undeniably family. He has an aunt that was once almost his mother and he loves still. He has a wife and a daughter, too, and another on the way, and while he holds out hope for a boy, he'd also be just fine with another girl. That's a lot of women, but he's never minded much<p>

He likes women. _Loves _women.

He'd messed around with a couple guys in college, if only 'cause his moms had raised him open-minded and it made his dad seven kinds of uncomfortable though he tried to hide it. But as much as he'd enjoyed their company, it had never compared to the soft curves of a woman pressed against him or the easy conversation and empathetic connection that the girls in his life offered to him. He still gets a Christmas card from Trey, his husband, and their two kids every year, and when Maya had been visibly pregnant in theirs this year, Trey made sure to drop a congratulatory note and an offer to arrange a marriage for pretty little Zoe to either his son or daughter, "whichever way she may lean".

After college, he hung up what his momma called his "Sloan-y ways" (with the girls and one or two guys) and started dating in earnest. The first girl he got actually serious enough with to bring home was named Hannah, and she was nice enough, if fascinated by his family arrangements, about how Arizona was his mom but Addison was his step-mom, about how he defined his life and divided his time.

Maya, though, Maya gets it. She grew up with two dads, but her Aunt Lois was her egg-donor and surrogate and a somewhat active part of her life. She understands that family isn't about what you check in a box, but about who loves you enough to call you theirs. Even if, much to all of their parents' amusement, they are creating the most conventional of nuclear families themselves.

Despite the number of women in his life, Zeq had always had his dad to rely on for a little y-chromosome time. For the basketball game and no need to talk, and "yes, your moms are totally overreacting but we have to do what they say" and "no, your girlfriend really _is_ crazy".

Had.

Marcus Sloan died at 7:33 AM, January 30th. Wife, son, younger daughter, and baby mamas (he still called them that, just to get a rise, only three days before his death) at his side. His older daughter, Sloane, had been forced to go home the day before and said her goodbyes then. His granddaughter, Zoe, had said her goodnights the night before, and he had known it was also goodbye, even if her four-year-old mind has still not quite understood the extent of _Gramps is gone_.

Zeq doesn't quite understand that either, and with his stepmother and twenty-five-year-old sister Kara both devastated by the loss, the brunt of planning the funeral and writing the eulogy falls to him.

"Arizona Robbins Torres!"

On the other side of the door, he hears tiny steps slip and slide and halt.

"Leave Papi alone, baby," the girl's mother corrects more gently. "He needs some time."

"I wanna show Papi my dress, Mama. You said I look nice."

Zeq stands and cracks the door to his office, meeting Maya's soft, understanding eyes at the end of the hall with a nod before looking down to the girl at his feet, all big brown eyes and tousled dark curls, the picture of her abuelita, though bearing her grammy's name.

"Hey, Zoe. Come on in here and give me a big spin," he manages, leaning his hip against the desk and letting her give a clumsy pirouette.

"Do I look nice for Gramps? Aunt Sloane said black is for foon-erals, but Mama said Gramps wanted me to wear somethin' bright."

"You look beautiful, m'ija. And your gramps loved you in yellow."

"You're wearing black."

"Because I'm not as pretty as you," Zeq informs her, lifting her up to sit on his desk beside them.

"But you're really handsome, Papi."

"Thanks, Zo."

"You're welcome."

"I have to do a little more work before we go pick up all your grandmas. Wanna draw a picture for Gramma Addy while you wait for me?"

"No, for Grammy and 'Lita."

"But Gramma Addy needs to be cheered up, because she misses Gramps the most."

"Oh, okay."

He relinquishes the desk to her project, pulling a few crayons out of the desk drawers and setting her to work before returning to the draft in his hand.

It'll never capture his father. He's not fantastic with words; his madre teases that it's the only trait he doesn't show. But his dad deserves the best, so he sets to work, Zoe's sweet humming from behind the desk making him smile just a little. That's some Led Zeppelin she's crooning, and he's almost certain that's his father's fault.

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><p>Zeq is sad, of course; he's lost his father. But while this may be the first real opportunity for many in attendance to mourn the loss of Mark Sloan, he's been doing that for days, and right now, all he really feels, post eulogy and all, is <em>boredom<em>. This minister really can drone on.

He feels Zoe start to fidget beside him. She has been so good all day, and that's very hard for a four-year-old. She lifts up on her knees and turns around, pretty yellow dress rustling against the wood pew, and he turns to gently scold her to sit down.

Instead, he finds himself grinning. Zoe has turned around because his mother is making faces at her, sticking her tongue out and wrinkling her nose. His madre makes a big show of rolling her eyes and shaking her head, but as soon as Arizona's face goes blank, Callie starts it up. Zoe knows better than to giggle, but she bites her lip and smiles like crazy. Zeq blinks back his tears; if his dad were still here, he'd be right along with them, while Addison tried desperately to make the three of them behave.

It's Arizona's turn to wordlessly scold Callie, and Callie looks faux-sheepish and drops her head, which makes Arizona start with the silly faces all over again. Apparently, his mothers have been replaced by the Marx brothers. Grandmotherhood has brought the silliest out in them all over again.

His teary younger sister Kara grabs Zoe around the middle and buries her face in her wild curls, grinning at her aunts behind her, and Addison turns to scold them all, but she's smiling through her own tears. Zeq chances a look at his wife, who's shaking her head disbelievingly. Maya leans over to whisper in his ear, and his hand goes subconsciously to her belly.

"You have the weirdest family ever," she says adoringly. "You can't even sit through a funeral respectfully."

Zeq whispers back:

"Just like Dad would want."

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><p>Callie keeps her eyes on her son. Ezequiel stands with Kara, Addison, and Sloane, shaking hands and thanking people for coming. She watches as Derek Shepherd grabs Zeq into a weepy hug, and then smiles a little when she sees Lexie Grey and her teenagers waiting next in line. Whatever happened between Mark and Lexie, she was always, always there for Zeq.<p>

Next to Callie, Arizona has Little Arizona on her hip, Zoe shoving a donut in her mouth while her grandmother holds another two on a plate. Grief is going to give her entire family diabetes.

"Do you think you maybe want to slow down a little on the donuts, Arizonas?" she asks her girls.

"No, Abuelita."

"Nope."

"Okay," Callie sighs, leaning over to kiss each on the cheek. She goes back to watching their son.

Except for that Sloan nose, Zeq still looks mostly like her side of the family, and she spent most of her life looking for all of the Arizona in him, of which there is much. But right now, maybe just because he's on her mind, all Callie can see in him is his father. He has Mark's easy way with people, Mark's confidence and charm, and above all, Mark's extreme devotion to his family. Zeq catches her eye and gives her a smile that's all Sloan, and Callie has never missed Mark more, nor been more grateful that she has a living reminder of her best friend still with her.

"Lita's getting weepy," Zoe comments.

"Shh," Arizona says softly. "Let's just give her a hug."

They dutifully put down their donuts and draw her into a double embrace. Arizona catches her son's eye and gestures him over.

"Everything okay?" he asks gently.

"We just need a hug," Zoe tells him with a sigh, squished between her two grandmothers.

Zeq is more than happy to oblige them.

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><p>el fin<p> 


End file.
